In Bloom

Bidens sp.Mexican Stickseed

Bidens sp. Photo by Joanne Taylor.

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Below the towering tree daisies and tree dahlias of the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest grows another member of the Aster family – Bidens – much shorter in stature but quite striking with its delicate dark green leaves and brilliant golden flowers. It forms a one–two foot high mass around the edges of the Cloud Forest and was collected as seed by Dennis Breedlove and SFBGS Curator Don Mahoney in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1991. They found it growing in the wild alongside another of our cloud forest favorites, the firecracker plant (Cuphea ignea).

Bidens, like many genera in the Aster family, is complex and variable taxonomically. It is a widely distributed genus closely related to Coreopsis, Cosmos and Dahlia. The greatest concentration of more than 200 species is in the tropics and subtropics of the New World. Our particular specimen has yet to be identified to species even though much taxonomic work has been completed on this plant family for Mexico. It most closely resembles Bidens ferulifolia, in having 1–1.75 inch golden flowers with 4-5 ray florets and leaves that are most variable, divided into 3 leaflets or more commonly finely divided like a fern. It also has a sweet honey-like fragrance, attracting honeybees and butterflies.

The common names of Bidens include beggarticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers – names referring to the bristly fruits that end in two sharp barbs and tend to stick to animals' fur and our clothing. This is a great adaptation for dispersal of the seeds. The genus name refers to the same character. Bidens comes from the Latin bi (two) and dens (tooth).

Bidens ferulifolia's native range is from Arizona and New Mexico to northern Mexico. Several cultivars of this species are sold under the names 'Golden Eye', 'Yellow Charm', 'Golden Goddess', 'Gold Marie', 'Peter's Gold Carpet'.

Profile

Scientific Name

Bidens sp.

Family

Asteraceae

Plant Type

Herbaceous perennial

Environment

Likes full sun and water occasionally to regularly; tolerates mild frost

Bloom

Fall, Winter, Spring

Uses

Sunny border

More Info

Native to southern Mexico

IN BLOOM CONTRIBUTORS:
Text by Mona Bourell. Photos by Joanne Taylor.

Location

Bidens sp. are located in the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest (Beds 29A, 29H).

Leucadendron argenteum

Crocosmia

Gunnera tinctoria

Pellaea rotundifolia

Fuchsia boliviana

Erica canaliculata

Magnolia campbelli

Magnolia denudata

Camellia

Geranium maderense

April

Acmena smithii

May

Eschscholzia californica

June

Dendromecon harfordii

July

Romneya coulteri

August

Eupatorium purpureum

September

Epilobium canum sp.

October

Grevillea spp.

November

Drimys winteri

December

San Francisco Botanical Garden's beauty and value as a major cultural resource are the result of a successful public/private partnership between San Francisco Botanical Garden Society and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.